Members of Friends of the Monroe Township Community Garden, township officials and supporters celebrate the opening of the garden, located on Applegarth Road. ADAM UZIALKO/STAFF The seeds of a township park dedicated to conservation education and the arts have officially been planted.
Monroe Township officials gathered with the nonprofit Friends of the Monroe Township Community Garden and developer Todd Ochsner on May 28 to formally dedicate a 96-plot community garden, the largest in Middlesex County.
“I’ve been told this is the fastest government move in a long time,” Len Baskin, president of the friends group, said jokingly at the dedication ceremony.
Baskin emphasized the collaborative nature of making the garden a reality, thanking the volunteers who fell in love with the idea, Ochsner for donating the land, and township officials and professionals for helping make it a reality.
The garden is situated on 2 acres of a 12- acre parcel donated to the township by Ochsner, whose development firm Verde Group will develop the adjacent 26 acres.
All plots in the garden have been rented and a waiting list has been established, but the garden will be expanded with 80 additional plots by the 2016 season.
Councilwoman Leslie Koppel, who acted as a liaison between the friends group and the township during the planning stages, recounted Baskin’s persistence over the years in pursuit of creating a community garden.
She recalled Baskin attending township meetings with a satchel full of papers containing research and ideas, constantly keeping the possibility alive.
“… The papers were different pictures of community gardens in the surrounding areas and clips from different ideas of gardens and how to do community gardens,” Koppel said. “The reason why this is opening today — on time and ready to plant — is because people have a personal connection to this project in Monroe Township.”
The entire 12-acre property will be dedicated to the environment and the arts, Koppel said.
“We’re looking for inspiration from the community to move this from a garden to a living space … where people can explore their passions,” he said.
There is already a fledgling butterfly garden in the ground adjacent to the garden. In the future, the township is hoping to install amenities on the remaining 10 acres of land, such as a gazebo dedicated to the arts, a segment of land where native flora would flourish and educational signage focused on conservation.
According to John Riggs, township director of planning and environmental protection, the additional open space brings the town’s total holdings of preserved land to 7,500 acres. With the additional wetlands within Monroe, that number is closer to 13,000, he said.
Riggs said the township’s open space goals are directly tied to enhancing the quality of life for residents.
“We have always had it in our master plan to provide a very high quality of life, because that’s what it’s all about,” Riggs said in an interview.
The property is a prime location for the garden and additional proposed uses, Ochsner said. He said he was happy to donate the land for such a purpose.
“This site always had an area for a garden because it was historically farmed,” Ochsner said. “It just happened to coincide with everything timing-wise, which really worked out well.
“I grew up in the town, so for me it was kind of a legacy project. And it’s personal, because I’m a farmer as well as a developer.”
Next door, “The Gateway,” the $100 million Verde Group project that lies on 26 acres along Route 33, will contain 37,000 square feet of commercial space and 170 townhome units.
“We did all of the demolition, and if all goes well, we should be breaking ground in the fall,” Ochsner said, adding that early tenants include Quik Chek and McDonald’s.
To conclude the dedication ceremony, a decorative sign welcoming visitors to the Monroe Township Community Garden was unveiled. The brightly colored vegetables that adorn the sign were a symbol of things to come for the empty plots on Applegarth Road.